


shop 'til your heart drops

by flusteredkeith



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Canon Universe, F/M, Humor, Pining Allura (Voltron), Post-Canon, allura needs to get a handle on her big crush, allura tries to buy keith a birthday present, in which keith is accidentally smooth, shenanigans ensue, shopping at the space mall, some characters from the space mall episodes may make a come back ;), vaguely post zarkon-ish
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-19
Updated: 2017-05-19
Packaged: 2018-11-02 11:08:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10943253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flusteredkeith/pseuds/flusteredkeith
Summary: “You got everything?” she asks, voice raised so he can hear her above the wind whipping around them.“Yup,” he says. Perhaps it’s the speed they're going, or the excitement of the chase, but Keith’s smirk is larger than ever as they zoom forward towards the final escalator. Heart pounding fast, Allura braces herself for the imminent drop.Allura takes Keith shopping. Feelings and shenanigans ensue.





	shop 'til your heart drops

**Author's Note:**

  * For [rhapsodyinpink](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rhapsodyinpink/gifts).



> Surprise!! Happy birthday, [stardusted](https://stardusted.tumblr.com)! You are a such a wonderful person and I've thoroughly enjoyed getting to know you more and more over the last few months. At this point, I'd definitely consider you one of my closest friends. Not only do you encourage me not to doubt myself so much, you also never fail to remind me what's important in life. I feel very grateful that I can call you my friend. :)  
> I hope you like this fic! <3
> 
> To everyone else: I also hope y'all enjoy this. :D
> 
> Also, parts of this fic were inspired by this piece of [art](http://itty-bitties-posts.tumblr.com/post/157811909612/hope-allura-will-be-able-to-get-herself-something) by [itty-bitties-posts](http://itty-bitties-posts.tumblr.com)! Thanks for your amazing work~
> 
> P.P.S. Thanks so much to [kali_asleep](http://archiveofourown.org/users/kali_asleep/pseuds/kali_asleep) and [vldrarepairs](http://archiveofourown.org/users/miraculousstorytelling/pseuds/vldrarepairs) for helping me read this over. <3

_"Well, you know Keith. He’s just a difficult guy to get gifts for.”_

The words echo in her mind as Allura moves along the walkway, trying not to stare too much at the red paladin standing by her side. The urge to casually glance over at him grows stronger as they pass another specialty weapon store, but she resists. She’s already turned her head towards him three times in the last few minutes. Any more frequent and it would look suspicious.

_“I’m sure he’s the most difficult one to get gifts for in this castle, but—”_

_“No. He is just plain difficult,” Shiro said._

After promising Coran earlier that morning that she would go nowhere near the pirates, they had departed the castle and were now making their way down the shopping strip under the pretense of buying maintenance tools for the castle.

The place has really changed. Allura hasn’t been to this mall ever since it’d  been remodeled. The floors and walls are a spotless dazzling white, and several aliens and families populate the space around them: couples hand in hand holding shopping bags and children making wishes on little gacs by the fountain.

When they pass yet another jewelry store, she fights down the impulse to let out a moan of longing; she can’t remember the last time she’s purchased something sparkly to wear. Doing her best to quelch her own desires, Allura sighs and reminds herself of why she’s here.

 _“Well, then —_ challenge accepted _!”_ _she declared_ _to the black paladin, who leaned back in wide-eyed surprise at her outburst. “There are many things I pride myself on, and understanding people is very high on that list.”_

_“I don’t think it’s a matter of understanding him,” Shiro reasoned, trying to bite back a laugh. “It’s just… a fact of life. Like water is liquid, or like Hunk loves cooking.”_

_“What do you usually get him on his birthday?” Allura demanded with her arms crossed. “You’ve known him a long time.”_

_“You see, the thing with Keith is if he wants something, he’ll get it himself,” he explained. “That’s why it’s so hard to get him anything that won’t end up at the bottom of his drawer or in the trash pile once he’s forgotten where it’s from.”_

_“Yes, yes, but what did you get him?” she prompted._

_Shiro grinned sheepishly. “I did get him his first pair of gloves. Now, I know that’s hard to top but—”_

_Allura pursed her lips. “Wonderful.”_

It was then that Allura had hatched a plan to take Keith to the space mall. Because, despite the team growing even closer as a family over the last few months, she’s never thought about what Keith would want for his birthday. In fact, if Shiro hadn’t mentioned it last week, she may not have even realized that it was coming up in three quintants. With all the chaos surrounding the fight against Zarkon’s Empire, the focus had always been about the war. There were still so many things she had yet to really learn about her paladins. And to make matters more difficult, Keith has always been the most guarded and quiet of them all.

 _“I know what you said before,” Allura began, leaning against the doorframe of Shiro’s bedroom later on that night. “But I’m going to do it. I’m going to find Keith a really amazing gift that he’ll appreciate. Like the gloves, but, you know,_ better _.”_

 _“I wasn’t gonna stop you,” Shiro chuckled, crossing his arms. “Those gloves_ are _one of a kind though.”_

_Allura upturned her bottom lip. She had always wanted to get Keith a fun birthday present, but now, with Shiro’s subtle taunts, she wanted to do something that would really knock his socks out of orbit._

_“I bet I can find something at the space mall,” she said confidently. “Something that he’ll both treasure_ and _keep forever.”_

_“You’re on,” he smirked. “Terms of the bet?”_

_“I’ll tell you tomorrow morning when I think of it,” she said before stalking off towards her sleeping quarters._

_Shiro blinked, then shrugged a nonchalant “Good luck with that, Princess,” before heading off to bed._

Keith’s arms are folded as they continue down the walkway. Keeping her face forward, her eyes shift over onto him as they pass a clothing store.

From the moment they arrived, she’s been stealing glances at him after every shop they pass, trying to detect even the slightest change in his features. Already, they've passed a few she thought would've been definite contenders for his attention — _Galran Outfitters_ , an independent bookstore, a store full of electronics, _Beeba Records_ , and _GameGalore_ — but to no avail. Eyes focused and expression flat, Keith remains completely unaffected since they got here.

She’s starting to see what Shiro means.  
  
Nonetheless, she refuses to believe it’s impossible. After all, they've got all day here at the mall. With this many levels and rows upon rows of shops, there’s bound to be _something_ he would like. Keith may be a quiet, guarded guy, but Allura knows this is the kind of thing she's always excelled at: understanding others and picking up on their interests.

Pursing her lips in thought, her eyes glance at the giant wall clock up ahead, then travel along the high arches and top floors of the mall. As grateful as Allura is to have so many choices set before the birthday boy, it would take about five vargas to properly browse the entire place. Perhaps it’d be more efficient if she started their trip out by giving him a nudge in the right direction.

“Um… you know, the offer still stands,” she says, keeping her voice light and cheery. He turns his face towards her with an arched brow.

“What I mentioned before,” she continues. “Window shopping after our errands and maybe grabbing a bite to eat. There’s no rush at all.”

She’s had it all planned out since this morning. Once they purchase the mechanical tools necessary for the castle, she’ll browse the different stores with him until she figures out what he’s interested in. Then, while they eat dinner in the food court, she’ll pretend to go to the bathroom and get him the gift.

It’s foolproof. And with relative ease, she’ll be able to return to the ship and cash in on Shiro’s bet.

“Sure.” Keith says. “Didn’t Coran also say he wanted us to get him some volumizing hair products?”

“Yes, of course,” she nods, making a mental note to check the health and beauty section. In her single-minded fixation on finding Keith a present, she had almost forgotten the others’ requests. “Also, remind me later, but Lance says he wants to try a variety of facial creams, and I quote, ‘imported from all corners of the universe’ for his nightly beauty routine.”

“He needs all the beauty he can get,” Keith smirks.

“We should get Shiro some eyeliner while we’re at it,” Allura chortles.

“And you can get yourself something sparkly,” he says, eyes softening as he looks at her.

Cheeks growing hot, she stares determinedly ahead as her heart begins to race. She never expected him to remember a small detail about her like that and the thought causes a tiny grin to spread across her face.

It also hits her then that she simply doesn't know how to respond. For the first time ever, she and Keith have a lot of free time to spend together. It's the first time they're out of the context of battle and she's not entirely sure how to interact. Being in combat mode together was normal. Shopping together is not.

“Uh, you okay, Princess?” he asks. The concern in his face does nothing to set her at ease. The fact that he’s watching her so carefully in the first place surprises her, and… she’s happy to know that he cares.

“Everything’s fine,” she insists, more to herself than to Keith as she tries to drown out the loud pounding of her heart.

 _Focus_ , she tells herself.

“Anyway,” she continues. “I’ll never say no to something sparkly. But I’ve been to my fair share of space malls when I was a child. It’s only fair that you get the chance to explore what you want.”

“I don’t really mind,” he says. “We can go wherever you want.” 

“Well we've got all day,” she replies, laughing nervously. “The floor’s all yours. Oh — we’re this way.”

“As you wish, Princess,” he says as they step off the walkway. Allura stops to catch her breath — since when did Keith ever say things like that? And off the battlefield no less? “Let’s just get the … blaxums and the pokl—whatever first. That’s what we came here for, right?”

He turns back to her, head tilted slightly as he waits for her response. She clears her throat and smiles.

“Right,” she replies, clapping a hand to his shoulder as she guides him left towards the general supply store.  
  
“That’s _exactly_ what we came here for.” 

—

Thirty doboshes later, after finding the tools and Coran’s hair product, they leave the store with two shopping bags in hand. In the short span of time they spent inside _G-Mart_ , the crowd at the mall has thickened.

“So where do you want to go next?” she asks as they make their way back towards the center of the strip. “Did you see anything on the way here that interested you?”

Keith shrugs. “Not really.”

 _He wasn’t even looking_ , she thinks in annoyance, recalling the lack of interest he showed in his surroundings on their way here. They stop in front of a directory and she pulls up a search menu on the bottom left corner of the screen. An alien language she’s less familiar with lights up before her, scrapping any chance of Keith being able to use the services provided. A dejected feeling settles at the pit of her stomach and she sighs. Of course, when there’s a mission, even when the “mission” is as simple as buying some stupid blaxums and poklones, Keith never pays attention to anything else outside of his—

“You were eyeing that jewelry store back there though,” he says with his thumb pointing back towards where they came from. “Did you want to check it out?”

Turning away from the directory, she blinks up at him with her mouth parted slightly open. On the outside, she knows she’s calm and collected. On the inside, however, her heart’s pounding a million miles a minute. She's almost too shocked that Keith noticed what she was doing to be flattered. Almost.

“But what about you?” she asks, recovering quickly. Her voice takes on an excited and confident tone in hopes that it will give Keith the encouragement he needs to think more about what he wants. “The place is teeming with shops. Surely there’s something you wanted to check out?”

“I’m fine with wherever you want to go,” he replies. “I don’t really need anything.”

“Right,” she says, feeling slightly deflated. Allura is grateful for his accommodating manner, but at the same time, she finds herself growing increasingly desperate for Keith to give her  _something_ to go off by. Just anything. Anything at all. She needs to know what gift to purchase by dinnertime.

“Well we better start somewhere,” she suggests, glancing around at the stores closest to them. An alien antique shop and _Arusian Emporium_ stand to the left of them, and to their right, a candy store and a tattoo parlour.

“Oh, look!” she points at the third store to the right of _Inktessence_. “That’s the make-up store from Earth that Lance always talks about. I didn’t realize they’ve got one here in space. They must be expanding really far.”

“Uh… “ Keith squints at the name above the doors. “S-Sephora?”

“You haven’t heard of it?” Allura asks.

“I don't think I've ever needed to,” he replies, eyeing the store with a wary expression as a group of giggling alien girls walk in.

“Oh, come on,” she says, grabbing his wrist and dragging him towards the store. “We need to get Lance his facial samples first.”

—

For the next varga as Allura begins her trek to take him throughout every floor of the mall, she is optimistic. The opportunities are endless and so many possible gift items are laid out before them to explore. There are shops for candy, for games, for eyewear, and more; pet shops and electronics and several stores with blades. Although Keith shows mild interest in several whimsical objects and items in various stores, none of them seem to instill the kind of reverence or amazement Allura is looking for. She knows she could simply purchase a book or shoes or — and a fiery stubbornness flares inside her as she thinks it — a newer pair of gloves for Keith, but she can’t bring herself to settle for such commonplace gifts. If she has to scour the mall to find the right present, she will. She would never accept anything short of excellence.

“What do you think of this?” Allura asks as she slows to a stop in front of _Happy Claws_. Pressing her face against the window, she gestures for Keith to come examine it with her. A row of small cages line the display case, each carrying a unique creature from various parts of the galaxy.

“Which one?” Keith asks. She hears his footsteps draw near from behind before becoming suddenly aware of his warm proximity as he leans in over her shoulder. Trying to make sure that Keith wouldn’t hear, she draws in an inaudible breath as the hairs on the back of her neck stand up, millimeters away from his chin.

“That one,” she says, pointing. Her voice comes out too stiff and nervous for her liking, and yet, she doesn’t want to move away from the close presence causing it. Clearing her throat, she wills herself to shake it off and focus. “The second to the right.”

She turns her head just slightly enough to see Keith peering down at the little creature sitting inside its cage. Covered in spikes and a dark red shell, Allura had recognized the _xznly tumüir_ from a book she read back in her childhood. The distinctive shape of its four claws along with its six legs and poisonous tail are the key identifying marks. Hardly able to contain her excitement, she watches with bated breath as Keith continues to stare at the small critter.

“Uh… what is that exactly?” His eyebrows are furrowed and his lips pursed as he contemplates the creature before him.

“It’s species name is _xznly tumüir_ ,” she tells him. 

“Come again?” he asks as he folds his arms and leans against the window.

“It’s—,” she begins, fully prepared to teach him the pronunciation. But with one look at his blank expression, her motivation falters. “Never mind. Forget the name, these are so darling, aren’t they?” 

She turns back to the _xznly tumüir_ and watches as it crushes a tiny rock in one of its claws. Out of the corner of her eye, she spies Keith trying not to laugh.

“Are they?” he smirks. “Is that the definition of ‘darling’ for Alteans? Because I don’t think that’s the first word I’d use to describe this Kh — how would you even spell that in human English?”

“Hmm, if I remember correctly, it’s X - Z - N — um,” her eyes stray towards the ceiling as she tries to remember the correct letters. “Y — no, I mean, L—”

“It’s okay. I won’t even bother,” he says. “So what do they do?”

“Well, they’re lonely, solitary creatures. They keep to themselves but will lash out easily when they feel attacked. However, once you earn their trust, they make very loyal pets,” she explains. Her eyes widen and she turns to give Keith a pointed look. “Kind of like you.”

“Me?” he asks, taken aback. He spares the _xznly tumüir_ another glance before frowning. “I’m not…” — he gestures to the spiky shell — “ _that_ prickly.”

“Aww, but you two would get along so well!” Allura gushes, flashing her teeth at him. Keith snorts.

“No thanks. I don’t want to take care of something like that. Besides, I’ve already got Red.”

“Are you sure?” she asks, pouting slightly. “They’re very low maintenance. They just need to be fed. But they can take care of themselves, really.”

“I’m also not really a pet person,” he shrugs. Allura mentally checks all other pet stores off of the list. “But… it sounds like you want one.”

“What, me?” she straightens up, ogling at him in surprise. “No, no. I don’t want a pet. I just thought — I just thought it was cute.”

“You… think that’s cute?” he asks, raising an eyebrow at her. “Huh. Well, then. Seems like it would suit you better instead.”

Without batting an eye, Keith pushes himself away from the window and continues their trek up the mall, leaving Allura behind in a stammering mess. 

— 

Allura wishes she could say that she’s completely adjusted to being with Keith in such a casual way, but every few doboshes, she finds herself a little lost with what to do with the free and open space between them. Even just in the last two vargas, she’s learned that Keith’s favorite color is actually black, not red, that he can be just as much of a gentleman as he is hotheaded, and that despite his rough edges and default combative stance, he has just as many soft sides to balance it out. When they had sat down on a bench earlier for a short break, a child had snuck up behind them to tug on his mullet. With a yelp of surprise, Keith whipped around to glare at the kid as she ran away screaming with laughter. Catching up to her mother, the child turned back to give Keith a huge grin and a wave. Allura couldn’t help giggling as she watched Keith pat down his hair, his lip upturned. Expecting him to continue glaring, or perhaps fold his arms with a huff of annoyance, she was surprised to see his eyes soften instead. Even more surprising was the tiny flutter in her heart as his lips curved into a small smile.

Allura doesn’t know what to do with a smile like that. But she does know that even if she’s here for the sole purpose of getting Keith the perfect gift, she would forfeit the mission for a thousand more moments like that.

On the other hand, no matter how much fun she’s been having with Keith, nothing can prevent the panic that starts to settle in once she’s realized that after two more vargas have passed, she still has no idea what to get him for his birthday. After Keith’s complete lack of interest in the last store, a shop full of watches and tick meters, she starts to struggle with the terrifying possibility that Shiro was right: there is nothing in this entire space mall that Keith would want for his birthday.

They’ve been to shoe stores, weapon stores, movie stores, stores she’s sure he never would’ve seen on Earth, and yet, no matter where they go, Keith’s interest never stretches far enough to reach full blown enthusiasm for anything. The closest he came to showing any hint of desire for something happened in _GameGalore_ , when Allura discovered a new installment of her favorite childhood game _Galactic Fortress_ , a virtual reality shooter.

Veins surging with excitement, she had grabbed him by the arm and pulled him into the store, eager to share with him what the fuss was all about. For the next ten doboshes, Keith watched her play the demo version, laughing quietly to himself as she shot at invisible enemies around her. She could have sworn he had just as much fun when he joined in afterwards and slaughtered the enemy forces with her. His joy was apparent in his big grin and the crinkle at the corner of his eyes, and Allura thought, _surely, surely this is it_.

But the moment he took the VR goggles off, he had confirmed otherwise.

“It’s fun, isn’t it?” she had asked, taking her own goggles off.

“It is,” he agreed. Allura could almost hear the hidden “but” hovering in the air.

“But?” she prompted.

“It’s just,” he said as he placed the goggles back on the shelf. “Why would anyone need this if they’ve got a real live training bot back in their castle? Not to mention, real life experiences of shooting down aliens.”

And so she’s given up on video games. She doesn’t know where else to go. At this point, they’ve been to every store she thinks would interest Keith and walked the length of the mall and back twice, yet she still has no idea what to buy. The amount of options is dwindling as low as her morale.

They continue to walk along the fourth level of the mall, Allura stealing glances every now and then. She’s afraid to ask where he’d like to go next; she’s not prepared to face the harsh reality of discussing the fact that there isn’t a single inch they haven’t covered in this place. Perhaps it’s time to drop all pretenses and ask him more directly for what he wants.

“Listen, Keith—” she begins at the same exact moment Keith says, “Hey, you hungry?”

“I — what did you say?” Her eyes widen with horror as she slows to a stop. He can _not_ be asking about dinner — not before she’s found the perfect gift.

Keith side steps out of the way to allow an alien from behind to go around him and comes to a halt before her.

“Oh, it’s just, we’ve been shopping for a long time now,” he says. “So I asked if you were feeling hungry.” 

“But Keith, we…” _…can’t stop now?_ _aren’t done shopping? haven’t gotten to everything? can’t leave until I get you a present so I can prove Shiro wrong?_ — she can’t think of how to finish the sentence. On any other normal mall trip where she isn’t hiding anything from Keith, they would’ve definitely been going to eat now. “Are you sure?”

“Aren’t you hungry?” he asks with genuine curiosity. “I am.”

“I — no,” Allura lies. “No, I’m not.”

“Oh,” Keith says, looking mildly surprised. “Uh… did you want to keep shopping, then?”

“Of course.” Another lie, even as her tired feet are screaming in protest. “Don’t… don’t you?”

“Well, sure,” he starts to reason, his lips pursed in a cute pout. “But… I’m getting kind of hungry. And we’ve been walking around for like four hours.”

“I — I just wanted to make sure you got a chance to see everything you would’ve liked,” she says.

“And we did,” he replies with a shrug. “What makes you think eating dinner together isn't on that list?”

And just like that, it happens again: the heart racing, the stomach fluttering, the shortened breaths. Her mind seems to have frozen; she can’t turn him down once he’s made her feel like this. And besides, she can’t see a way to convince him out of going to dinner when they truly have been shopping for such a long time.

“Alright, then,” she nods. “Let’s go eat dinner.”

“Great,” he says, as he begins to step forward towards her. For the briefest moment, she freezes up as he’s leaning closer, her feet rooted to the spot. But before she can fully register what’s happening, he walks past her in the other direction. He makes it about five steps ahead when he turns around and gives her a questioning look.

“Elevator’s this way, if I remember correctly,” he points out with a thumb. “Aren’t you coming?”

Taking a deep breath in an attempt to slow her heartbeat, she puts on a smile and follows him.

“So what kind of flavor do you feel like eating today?” she asks as they step onto the elevator platform.

“Considering that I’ve only had food goo and very limited choices — I’m not sure,” he admits.

“Fair point,” she grins. A few other aliens get onto the lift with them, pushing them back into a corner until her arms are pressed up against Keith’s chest. Sucking in her breath, she stares determinedly away from him, hoping he can’t feel her heart pounding through her shoulders.

As the floor slowly sinks downwards, she considers the bigger dilemma instead: Keith’s birthday. Perhaps she should just buy him the video game during dinner and call it a day. Despite what he had said about it, it could still make for a decent birthday gift — one that could guarantee a win on Shiro’s bet. She most certainly would have a better chance at winning if she could at least prove that she had found _something_ instead of nothing.

A bright _ding!_ sounds and the doors slide open. While the other occupants file out one by one, she feels her lungs slowly deflate as she’s given more space to shuffle slowly away from Keith. Taking a deep breath, she exhales and smiles at him as they make their way out onto the second floor.

“Were you able to try anything at the food court last time you all were here?” she asks.

“I didn’t,” he replies. “But I think Hunk nearly had his life signed away at _Vrepit Sal’s_.”

“Really?” Allura laughs with deep interest. “What other crazy things happened? Besides Lance bringing back a cow, of course.”

“Uh, well…” Keith trails off as his eyes lock onto some distant point beyond Allura’s head. When she sees his smile fade, Allura turns her neck to try and follow his line of sight. Her eyes fall upon a booth at the end of a long chain of stores. Pots and pans hang on a metal bar lining the front of the shop and shelves full of cooking oils adorn the walls inside. It takes her a few ticks of back and forth before she realizes something:

  1. The storekeeper is staring straight at them.
  2. It is not at all a friendly glance.



“Speaking of crazy things,” Keith says under his breath, “We need to get out of here.”

“What? What do you m—Keith!”

And before she knows it, he’s grabbed her hand and taken off, racing full speed ahead towards the exit. Pushing his way through a gaggle of teenage girls, he nearly rams into a poor mom carrying several shopping bags while Allura spews some hasty apologies as they pass by.

“Keith, are you going to tell me what’s going on?” she exclaims as he finally lets go of her hand. All along the walkway, they run side by side, panting as they avoid colliding with strangers. Allura chances a glance behind her and pales — two Galran security guards are on their tail. “Why are they chasing us?”

“Stop, you space pirates!” one of them yells. “I’ll catch you this time, you little creep!”

“Keith?” she yells. “Is there something you guys didn’t tell me?”

“It’s — the knives!” he blurts out in between breaths.”I — pissed off — the Slice Capades guy!”

Turning a corner, they sprint towards the escalator up ahead, scaling down the stairway three steps at a time. When they hit the bottom of the first floor, she looks back up to see the two mall cops floating down on their hoverbikes.

“They’re closing in on us fast!” Allura cries out as she faces forward again. There’s still an entire walkway and an escalator ride down to go. “Keith?” 

“On it,” he says, as he veers right. Approaching an adolescent alien boy with a hoverboard up ahead, Keith wrests the equipment from his grasp and keeps running.

“Sorry, kid, I need to borrow this!” he yells amidst loud protests and angry shouts.

Shopping bags in tow, Keith throws the board down and lets it glide forward ahead of him. Grabbing Allura’s wrist, he pulls them both on. The hoverboard zips forward at once, causing Allura to let out a surprised yelp as she quickly wraps her arms around Keith’s torso, holding on for dear life. 

“You got everything?” she asks, voice raised so he can hear her above the wind whipping around them. 

“Yup,” he says. Perhaps it’s the speed of the hoverboard, or the excitement of the chase, but Keith’s smirk is larger than ever as they zoom forward towards the final escalator. Heart pounding fast, Allura braces herself for the imminent drop.

In one swift motion, Keith kicks down on the board’s tail and sends them flying through the air. Gripping his shirt tighter, Allura buries her nose in the back of his neck, feeling the gravity in her stomach disappear.

Several things happen at once: passerbys stop and watch with curious looks, the previous owner of the hoverbike shouts profanities behind them, and the mall cops are following in hot pursuit, yet the only thing Allura can think about is the way Keith, full of his usual smugness and confidence, makes her feel as they soar through the air. 

With a loud clang, they land on the basement floor and sail onwards. Maneuvering the hoverboard with surprising skill, Keith makes a left turn towards the parking structure.

“They shouldn’t be able to follow us after this line,” he yells as they cross over the border from mall to exit. She can hardly hear what he’s saying above the drumming in her ears. 

Just then, a loud voice booms in the air. 

“The space pirates are trying to escape! Shut down the parking lot at once!”

“Never mind!” Keith yells as the doors to the pod bay slide open. They fly through it before the alarms sound for immediate lockdown.

“We’ve got to get back to our pod!” Allura declares urgently. “There!”

She points to their aircraft just a few meters ahead and Keith races towards it.

When the windshield of the pod opens up, they hop off the hoverboard and throw themselves onboard. Tumbling haphazardly into the pilot’s seat, Keith slams the buttons to start up the pod as Allura falls over him, sprawled across both chairs. Both turn to look behind them at the mall cops and panic when they see they are still on their tail.

“Just go!” Allura shouts as Keith grabs onto the steering wheel and steps on the pedal. They lift off and fly towards the exit only to see the doors closing on them fast.

“Um… Keith?” she squeaks, eyes widening at their only escape route.

“I know!” he yells. “Just trust me!” 

Not for nothing was Keith referred to by Shiro as the best pilot of his year. As the hangar door slides further and further shut, Keith flies faster and faster on. She can’t tell if the opening looks smaller because of the darkened windshield, but the chances of crashing look nigh. Knowing he needs all the focus he can get, she bites back the urge to scream out his name again and shuts her eyes as they speed towards the closing exit, preparing herself for the worst.

But nothing happens. No impact. They’re gliding on just as they have been before.

Taking a deep breath, she cracks an eye open and sees a dark starry expanse. She shifts around into a seated position and finds them enveloped in the deep void of space. Keith lets out a long exhale of relief and leans back in his seat. 

“You — you did it!” she gasps, breath still short from the chase. 

“I told you to trust me, didn’t I?” he smirks.

“And so I did,” she affirms. Then, throwing her head back in laughter, asks, “D-did you see the look on that security guard’s face?” 

“Nah, I couldn’t get the image of that hoverboard guy out of my head,” he chuckles. “Damn. I can’t believe that guy from Slice Capades remembered me.”

“The whole situation was just one wild ride,” she agrees, shaking with mirth.

When the laughter dies down, she turns her head to look at the dashboard.

“Do you know how to get back?” she asks. 

“I just put it on autopilot,” he shrugs. “One less thing to worry about.”

“Right,” she says. Her eyes widen. It’s only then that she realizes she’s been sprawled out on his lap this entire time.

Peering up at his face, her breath hitches when she sees him staring back at her. Her feeble apology for invading his space gets lost on the way to her lips and everything seems to be stopping and spinning around her all at the same time. Fingers curling at his chest, she tilts her head up towards him and tangles her other hand in his hair. Despite trying to catch her breath in the last few minutes, her heart hasn't slowed this entire time. 

“Princess?” His voice comes out soft and low, warm breath mixing with her own. Her mouth tries to form his name but she can't seem to move. She can't seem to fight against the gravity that's pulling her closer and closer. With a gentle tug on his hair, she closes the remaining gap between them and lets her eyes fall shut.

His lips are chapped, but warm; pliant, yet stubborn. They move against hers with a slow, demanding fervor that causes her to melt in his arms. With every deep, drawn out kiss, her fingers grip his shirt tighter and tighter in her fist. Their pace quickens at once, trying to catch up with the adrenaline rush from minutes before still coursing through their veins. So when she feels his hand slide down her back and a gentle nibble at her bottom lip, she loses no time in parting open his mouth with hers.

She has no idea how many ticks or doboshes pass by, but when they break away, panting for air, they are both breathless and flushed. His hair mussed and lips swollen, she knows she must look no different. Hand still on his chest, she smoothes out the wrinkles she made in his shirt and smiles shyly up at him. There’s a dazed look in his eyes and she feels a surge of pride at the idea that she had caused it.

“Well. That was not how I expected this mall trip to end,” he notes in an amused tone.

“Me neither,” she says with a tinkling laugh. “All I expected to accomplish today was—”

Her face pales as her mouth drops open in horror. Eyebrows furrowing, Keith tilts his head in concern. 

“Everything okay, Princess?” he asks, giving her shoulder a gentle squeeze.

“I forgot!” she exclaims, smacking her head. The thought of Shiro’s knowing look and smug smile flash across her mind and she swears she feels her soul leave her body. “I — I didn’t — _I was supposed to get you a present!_ ”

“Present?” he quirks a brow. “What present?”

“For your birthday!” she groans, dragging her hands down her face.

“Oh. Is that why you asked me to tag along today?” he asks with a small smile. 

“Yes,” she says. Her eyes trail down to the floor as a blush creeps into her cheeks. “Well… mostly.”

“That explains why you acted so interested in everything and then didn’t want to buy any of it,” he snickers.

“Yes, well…” She sighs. “I guess I’ll have to get you something else instead.”

“Mmm,” he hums. “That’s okay. I don’t need anything else.”

“But—” 

“Shh,” he hushes. Taking her hand in his, he interlaces their fingers together. “The experience alone was priceless.”

She lets out a huff of annoyance but smiles in spite of herself. If she could kiss him silly and stare at the way his hair looks after she’s threaded her fingers through it like this again, _and_ do it whenever she wanted, she supposed it was all worth it in the end.

And then, a stroke of inspiration hits her.

“Keith,” she says. “If you thought the experience was priceless, will you tell Shiro that you received an amazing birthday gift from me then?”

“Uh… why?” he asks, one eyebrow raised. 

“Well…” her smile widens into a devilish grin and she reaches back behind him to pull something out of one of the shopping bags. Holding it out before him, she continues. “Let’s just say Shiro’s hair is going to be a little more interesting to look at for the next two weeks.”

A gradual look of dawning comprehension spreads across his face as Keith stares at the pink hair dye. Mouth curving up into a smirk, he brings his hand up to her face and pulls her in closer.

“In that case,” he says, his breath close upon her lips. “I’ll tell him you gave me the best birthday outing I’ve ever had in my life.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> Bonus:  
> Shiro: That doesn’t count. I’m not dyeing my hair.  
> Allura: We made out in the pod, try and top _that_ gift at the space mall.  
>  Shiro: *stares back and forth between them, eye twitching* FINE. *grabs the hair dye from her and stomps off to the bathroom*
> 
> \---
> 
> come say hello to me at [flusteredkeith](https://flusteredkeith.tumblr.com)!
> 
> if you enjoyed this, check out my other works! :)
> 
> [Catch me if I fall](http://archiveofourown.org/works/10210058)  
> Ever since the five paladins began to really work together as a team, Allura swore to herself that as long as the universe was at stake, she’d always put their feelings above her own, no matter what the circumstances were. She thought it’d be simple—easy, even. What she didn’t expect, however, was for the complications to arise from within herself.
> 
> Alternatively, Allura tries not to fall for Keith.
> 
> [it's quiet out here](http://archiveofourown.org/works/10601958)  
> In which Allura is pleasantly surprised to see Keith's calmer side.
> 
> Also: look forward to more Sheith fics from me in the future~


End file.
